Teachers may skip lawmakers in their quest for gaming cash

By J. Patrick Coolican, Emily Richmond

Sunday, May 6, 2007 | 7:03 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Nevada voters may face a momentous decision in 2008: Should the state increase taxes, perhaps on its dominant gaming industry, to raise money for education?

The state teachers union, frustrated by a Legislature unlikely to significantly raise per- student spending or fund universal all-day kindergarten, spread the word last week: It is considering going over the heads of the Legislature and straight to the voters.

Terry Hickman, president of the Nevada State Education Association, said the union has no choice but to consider going to voters, given the sluggish pace of education funding increases approved by the Legislature in recent years.

The theory is that the public is more progressive than elected officials about education funding and the taxes needed to pay for it.

If a ballot question succeeds, it means more money for education, with dividends down the road because the Legislature will be on notice that the voters support education and will punish those who stand in the way.

It's a risky gambit that has failed before, most recently in 2004. Another failure would embolden the state's strong anti-tax forces, who would happily tell legislators: The voters have spoken.

In a March report by Congressional Quarterly, Nevada was ranked last in state support for education funding. Nevada's per- student spending lagged nearly $1,900 behind the U.S. average in 2005, the most recent year available through the National Center for Education Statistics.

Gov. Jim Gibbons' budget would increase per- student spending from $7,547 to $8,145, most of which is eaten up by a 2 percent raise for teachers, as well as inflation and growth costs.

His budget eliminates or curtails programs for the placement of disruptive students; pay-for-performance for teachers; teacher-retention incentives; and help for prekindergarten children with limited English .

Just 21 percent of Nevada fourth graders read at or above proficiency on the 2005 National Assessment of Student Progress test. The national average was 43 percent, according to a report of The Education Trust, a think tank.

The state also has one of the highest average class sizes in the nation and a pressing teacher shortage.

The sense of panic among education advocates spread rapidly last week, as the Economic Forum, which forecasts state tax receipts, said tax dollars during the next few years will be more than $100 million less than expected.

The teachers union hasn't decided exactly how to proceed. It could lobby the Legislature to place the measure on a statewide ballot, or collect signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The measure would have to pass twice to become law.

"We need to change the dynamic," said Dan Hart, a political consultant for the union, which has about 28,000 members. "We're running fast just to stay at the status quo. There's a crisis in education, and there's not much recognition of that in Carson City, and there aren't that many politicians showing leadership."

Gathering signatures would cost $300,000 to $400,000, he said.

This is far from the union's first attempt to sway voters into directly supporting education funding.

In 2004 a union-sponsored ballot initiative to raise the per- student minimum to the national average by 2012 narrowly lost. Clark County was the only county to support the measure.

The failure was the second ballot defeat for the union in as many years. In 2002 its attempt to add a ballot measure to increase taxes for education was blocked by the court. And in 1990 voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed corporate tax intended to raise $100 million for education. Before the election the union abandoned its support of the measure, after opponents said it would discourage new businesses and hurt economic growth.

A payroll tax of 1 percent was proposed as an alternative, but that initiative also failed to find support.

Hart said 2008 will be an entirely different type of election cycle than 2004, when President Bush deftly turned out bundles of conservative Republicans.

He acknowledged the 2004 measure, which didn't create a funding mechanism to raise per- student spending, wasn't specific enough for voters.

This time would be different, he said, with all funding options on the table, including a corporate income tax and an increase in the gaming tax, and a well thought-out proposal.

Polling indicates the union may have a strong argument.

Voters consistently say education is the most important issue the state faces, and when asked the best way to raise revenue, they support raising the gaming tax.

Billy Vassilia dis, a Democratic consultant and chief executive of R&R Partners, the advertising and public affairs firm, said he's opposed to setting fiscal policy with ballot questions. Nevertheless, he said it could be a good, calculated risk, but only if the ballot question included accountability measures, meaningful reform and tangible improvements. If the public perceives the measure as a simple pay raise for teachers, it would fail, and "If it gets on the ballot and it fails, it could mean dark days," he said.

Another risk for the teachers is that the threat of going to the voters could harm their ability to negotiate this legislative session. For example, Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, might say, "Go get the money from the voters if that's your plan."

Ryan Erwin, a Republican political consultant, agreed with Vassiliadis: "I think the community is very supportive of teachers, but very few people think our schools are very good. Unless they tie it to a standard of excellence for the schools, I think they'll have a difficult time selling it," he said.

Vassiliadis is one of the many influential Nevadans who might feel sharp conflicts about a ballot measure. His firm has run Clark County school bond measures pro bono in the past, and he's a strong supporter of education. But his clients includ e gaming companies, which could see their taxes increased by a ballot question.

(The ballot question probably would ask for $1 billion over the coming years, which is the amount a state consultant recently said is required to achieve adequacy and meet learning standards required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.)

The Clark County School District would also feel conflicted. Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes declined to comment because there's no measure drafted yet.

An education funding ballot question could complicate the School District's efforts to pass a new bond measure in 2008, which is expected to top $10 billion.

Would voters support both?

There's a familiar pattern leading up to an education funding measure making its way to voters, said Mike Griffith, policy analyst for the Education Commission of the States, a publicly funded think tank. Ballot questions are typically a last resort, born out of frustration, and signify that the more traditional avenues have failed. Education advocates have tried going directly to the voters in a few other states, including California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, with varying degrees of success, he said.

Coolican reported from Carson City and Richmond from Las Vegas.